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Simply the Best

May 11, 2012

At Conference today, we just handed out the 2012 Power of the Partnership (POP) Awards—which recognize those suppliers who consistently exceed all expectations—and oh boy, there were some surprises. Apparently the winner of our highly-coveted North American Car Partner of the Year was Marisa Tomei! No one saw that coming.

Congratulations to the following recipients of the 2012 Supplier POP Awards:

  • Overall Partner of the Year – Travel Guard
  • North American Contemporary Cruise Partner of the Year – Royal Caribbean International
  • North American Premium Cruise Partner of the Year – Celebrity Cruises
  • North American Luxury Cruise Partner of the Year – Regent Seven Seas Cruises
  • North American Specialty Cruise Partner of the Year – Viking River Cruises
  • North American Hotel and Resort Partner of the Year – Marriott International
  • North American Car Partner of the Year – The Hertz Corporation
  • U.S. Air/Air Consolidator Partner of the Year – Air New Zealand
  • U.S. Insurance Provider Partner of the Year – Travel Insured International
  • U.S. Rail/Ground Operator Partner of the Year – Amtrak
  • U.S. Escorted Tour Operator Partner of the Year – Globus family of brands
  • U.S. Packaged Tour Operator Partner of the Year – MLT Vacations
  • U.S. Luxury Tour Operator of the Year – Tauck
  • Canada Air/Air Consolidator Partner of the Year – Intair
  • Canada Insurance Provider Partner of the Year – RBC Insurance
  • Canada Rail/Ground Operator Partner of the Year – Rocky Mountaineer
  • Canada Escorted Tour Operator Partner of the Year – Globus family of brands
  • Canada Package Tour Operator of the Year – Sunwing Vacations/Signature Vacations
  • Canada Luxury Tour Operator Partner of the Year – Tauck
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A Typical Day at Conference

May 10, 2012

Our 14th annual Conference is cruising along the Caribbean with nearly 1,300 Vcom agents and suppliers onboard. For those of you who have had the privilege of attending Conference in the past, you understand the high level of camaraderie, education, elucidation and fun that’s going on right now.

But for those of you who have not attended yet, you may be wondering what Conference is like. Let’s walk through today’s schedule with Veronica Veecom, an agent from Profitville, PA.

An eager go-getter, Veronica wakes up early to hit the gym before grabbing a healthy breakfast at the Windjammer Café. She then grabs 12-ounces of black gold from Starbucks and heads to the 8:45am General Session in the Opal Theater, where she enjoys presentations from Amadeus, Funjet, Viking River Cruises, GOGO Vacations and always-entertaining American Express.

Next it’s time for learning, and Veronica has to choose between “Selling to Different Generations,” “How’s Your Customer Service?” “Quality of your Data” and “Vacation.com Tools for Selling Luxury.” Others may skip class and spend a truant hour zip-lining over the Boardwalk, but not Veronica. She’s there with her agency’s best interests in mind, so she opts for the luxury tools seminars and learns a great deal about Hotel Elite.

At 11:45, she passes on the Preferred Supplier seminars from Starwood, MLT, Tauck and Oceania, only because she spoke candidly with them all during Monday’s Trade Show. Instead she grabs a veggie burger from Johnny Rockets and heads to the Experience Room to learn more about In-Sites, GoSiteSee, AirPRO and Agent Universe.

Her afternoon is filled with more Preferred Supplier training sessions, where she can choose to learn advanced sales strategies from the likes of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Classic Vacations, Crystal Cruises, WestJet Vacations and Kensington Tours.

She visits Starbucks again before the next set of classes, where she has the tough choice between “How to Avoid Group Disasters,” “Improving Your Google Rankings, “Old Rules for New Success in Social Media” and “Fly with AirPRO.” She chooses the class on Google Rankings and is amazed at how clearly the instructor instructs.

With her head swimming with new ideas and opportunities, Veronica freshens up in her spacious stateroom, throws on a bright floral-print dress and a pair of sling-backs and meets up with some fellow Vcommers she met earlier in the Experience Room for dinner. The wild mushroom ravioli she orders at 150 Central Park is simply to die for.

With the night still young, Veronica and her new best friends venture over to Studio B for a Vcom-exclusive showing of the comedy improv “Throw Me a Line!” The laughter energizes her so much, she decides to take in a late show of the Broadway hit musical Hairspray before finally calling a day—a long, enlightening, entertaining and thoroughly productive day.

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Go Get GoSiteSee

May 9, 2012

When you book your favorite clients on an incredible journey, don’t you want to go with them to point out the sites, help them navigate the city and suggest the best restaurants? Well, now you can, thanks to Vacation.com’s brand new GoSiteSee guides.

Announced this week at Conference, GoSiteSee mobile city guides for smartphones and tablets are packed with attractions, restaurant and shopping details, personalized trip itineraries, offline maps and navigation, augmented reality and trip sharing.

And the best part—the guides are branded with your agency’s logo and contact info, so your client always knows who to thank for this incredible, mobile pocket guide.

Currently you can send your clients GoSiteSee guides to dozens of cities, including Barcelona , Florence, Istanbul, Paris, New York, Washington DC, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and many others, with more destinations arriving soon.

Guide packs—which consist of three destinations—cost as little as $3.49 each, but you will receive five free guide packs when you register by June 30!

Click here to watch the GoSiteSee video.

Then you can discover more—and register for this amazing benefit—here.

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Fantasies Coming True at Conference

May 8, 2012

Vacation.com ConferenceConference attendees will visit several islands during Conference—including the Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten—but the most important stop on their itinerary is Vcom Island.

Known to locals as the Experience Room, Vcom Island is where your agency’s most important, most profitable fantasies can come true. Hundreds of Conference attendees took an island stroll when it opened Sunday at 8:00 a.m. to discover hands-on training and informative demonstrations on the industry-leading products and services available exclusively to Vacation.com members.

Those who soaked in the sunshine and the knowledge earned the right to spin the Wishing Wheel, where a perfect spin made all their wishes came true (if they wished for up to $50 in onboard credit or casino chips)!

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Blast Off to Agent Universe

May 8, 2012

Vacation.com Member PortalGoodbye AgentNet. Hello Agent Universe! That’s the big news coming out of Conference, where attendees heard all about it during Sunday’s General Session.

Agent Universe will be launching mid-summer to be your new, exclusive agent portal for everything Vacation.com!

Some of the many new benefits you will appreciate include:

  • Site Search tool to easily find the information you need
  • Customizable Quick Links on the homepage so you have immediate access to the programs and information most important for your agency
  • Fewer clicks to reach in-depth information on suppliers, promotions and exclusive Vacation.com benefits
  • Members-only Community on Facebook
  • Better reporting of your agency’s Preferred Supplier sales
  • More comprehensive, intuitive navigation menus
  • Homepage calendar of important upcoming promotions and events

And most importantly, it will look pretty! Stay tuned for more news on this exciting development!

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Email Elite

May 3, 2012

Vacation.com Luxury Hotel Program

By now, your agency should have received the stunning 2012 Hotel Elite book, which we hope you are proudly displaying in your office and not using as an elegant coaster.

Comprised of 300 photo-riffic pages, this year’s book features hundreds of 4- and 5-star hotels, resorts and spas on six continents that reward your clients with special amenities and privileges, exclusively available to Vacation.com members.

So what’s the best way to send luxurious hotel selections from the book to the clients you know will appreciate them? You could go old school, rip out the pages and snail-mail them—or you could easily email your clients a link to the online, e-brochure version of this glorious catalog.

Simply click here to open up the e-brochure (which can also be found at our dedicated Hotel Elite site) and then click on the unopened envelope icon at the top to “Send to Friend.”

You can personalize the cover page of the e-brochure with something awesome like “Read this! It’s much better than Atlas Shrugged.” And you can add a little message in the email, such as, “Since you have exceptionally great taste in hotels, I thought you would appreciate the properties on page 44, 67 and 230.”

Send the e-brochure to enough clients, and you can start an e-book club!

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Tips for Navigating Conference at Sea

April 26, 2012

Vacation.com ConferenceSince Conference is at sea this year aboard the megamazing Oasis of the Seas, it’s a whole new animal. To properly prepare you to navigate these uncharted waters, here are some special tips for attendees.

Pack Smart – All Conference events are business casual, and there are two formal nights on the cruise. Since you’re all seasoned cruisers, you know not to pack anything that is not allowed per RCCL, and you won’t forget your sunscreen and comfortable shoes.

Work Smart – Using the internet will be heavily discounted, but it’s still important to lighten your online load as much as possible. For example, downloading your emails to compose replies offline will save you bookoo bucks.

Avoid International Dialing Fees – Check with your cellphone provider regarding traveling to the Caribbean. For some, St. Thomas is charged at standard U.S. rates.

Don’t Forget Your Documents – No really, we mean it! Double and triple check. Be sure to check-in online and confirm that your information exactly matches what is on your legal documents.

No Conference Check-in Required – Once you board, you don’t have to find our registration desk to check-in. We’ll have a delegate bag and Conference badge waiting in your stateroom.

Three Bonus Tips to Improve Your Conference ExperienceSchedule time in the Experience Room to talk to all of our experienced experts; never hesitate to ask the ever-helpful Vcom staffers for directions and information; and read the course descriptions carefully to make sure you are attending the right sessions for you. As long as the session you want isn’t full, you can change classes onsite.

We look forward to seeing you onboard!

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Dealing with Dislike

April 19, 2012

People love to complain. They complain about the weather, the government, their neighbor’s taste in lawn ornaments, the decline of proper sidewalk etiquette, every other driver on the road, whatever kids are wearing these days…the list goes on and on.

And sometimes, they go on your agency’s Facebook page to complain about a vacation you created for them. One option, when this happens, is to simply delete the virtual complaint. Let’s call this “Option Wrong.”

The right course of action is to quickly, directly and publicly
address the complainer in order to turn that dislike into a like.

Most dissatisfied customers stop doing business with you; they disappear rather than complain. So when a complaint surfaces, it’s an opportunity to save a situation.

If the complaint is valid (and not just random abuse), take these five proven steps:

  1. Thank them for raising their concern.
  2. Address the concern if you can, or if you don’t have a clear understanding of what their concern is, offer to contact them to discuss this issue.
  3. Acknowledge fault if there is some to be had. Some things are out of your control—such as hurricanes, volcanoes or a tour guide’s halitosis—but we can at least acknowledge how frustrating these experiences can be.
  4. Offer solutions or resolutions to their issue.
  5. Follow-up. If you say you are going to do something about the issue, do it! Afterward, reach out to your client again to complete the cycle.

It’s vital to validate a client’s complaint and demonstrate that their feedback is valuable. After all, where would we be without them?

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Meet the Hosts: Kathy Beckerley

April 12, 2012

Clients love Vacation Vignettes because each sailing comes with the services of a Concierge Host, a Private Cocktail Reception and an Exclusive Shore Event at no additional cost. Those Concierge Hosts are actually super-qualified Vacation.com members who take time out of their busy schedules to help the program. Let’s get to know these cruise-enhancers a little better.

Today’s host is Kathy Beckerley from Beckerley Travel Consulting in San Geronimo, California.

Vacation.com: Tell us about your experiences as a Vignette Host.
Kathy Beckerley: I have been a host for three years. I have hosted three cruises now and will be hosting two more in 2012. I really love the experience of being a Vignette Host and appreciate Vacation.com for this great, enriching experience.

V: What was the highlight of your most recent Vignette?
KB: One of the many highlights of our Crystal Serenity Southern Cross cruise to Australia and New Zealand was cruising the Milford Sound in New Zealand. The scenery there is spectacular, and the Serenity sailed real close to the sights.

V: What is your favorite place visited while hosting a Vignette?
KB: My favorite place was definitely the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. I never thought I would be able to see the art work and visit that incredible place. It was a real treat.

V: What has been the most surprising element of the hosting experience for you?
KB: The most surprising element is how wonderful all the guests have been and how much they appreciate the service.

V: What is the most unexpected request you have received as a Host?
KB: On a Celebrity cruise we had a pianist and comedian that was very popular. I had a guest ask me to find out which future cruises he would be playing on. I did this for her one night after his first act and had a great conversation with him.

V: Any heartwarming stories you encountered while hosting a Vignette?
KB: Our most recent Vignette was on Crystal Serenity to Australia and New Zealand. We had a wonderful Vignette excursion in Christchurch. We had a family demonstrate how to make pavlova (a meringue-based dessert) and share their home with us. They were warm, loving people and the whole group loved meeting them. We found out later their home was destroyed in an earthquake Christchurch had five days after our visit. This excursion and earthquake gave our group a feeling of closeness, and many of us kept in touch after the trip.

V: What is your favorite shore excursion in your cruising experience so far?
KB: Whale watching in Juneau – saw so many whales – it was incredible!

V: Which destination is currently at the top of your bucket list?
KB: Vietnam and Thailand are on the top right now.

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Elect to Select

April 5, 2012

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Engagement Select combines all the great features of Engagement and ClientBase for the ultimate consumer direct marketing tool.

Our analysis shows that clients selected on the basis of information stored in your ClientBase records purchase Preferred Supplier products through Engagement three times as often as the control group.

Three times! Let’s put that in perspective: if you typically booked five cruises from an Engagement mailer, then one that is supercharged with your ClientBase records could generate fifteen sailings! Now that would make for a very lucrative month.

Not only does Engagement Select triple the results, but it also makes list management—an extremely important factor to successful marketing—a breeze. There’s no need to submit an updated client list to us; we extract an update from ClientBase automatically.

Select higher profits! Select easier list management! Select Engagement Select today!

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